L.A. Times Blames Breitbart California for Republican Woes

The Los Angeles Times has blamed Breitbart California, which launched Sunday evening, for what it predicts will be a Republican “slide” among women and Latino voters. The Times cited a satirical poster by street artist Sabo, depicting U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as Miley Cyrus. The Times also blamed GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly, an Assemblyman who has taken a hard line against illegal immigration.

The Times‘ Seema Mehta writes:

On Monday, a GOP gubernatorial candidate’s inflammatory rhetoric likening illegal immigration to war came to light. The previous day, a conservative website on California politics was launched, featuring a raunchy photo-shopped image of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi–a depiction that prompted the most powerful Republican congressman from California to remove his column from the site.

Mehta goes on to blame the “tone” of Republican Party rhetoric for the party’s poor performance among women and Latinos, but leaves out several important facts, such as that the GOP has performed better than Democrats among married women, and that the most prominent national Latino political figures are all Republicans–including some of the most aggressive Tea Party leaders in the entire conservative movement.

What the Times evidently hopes is that its “observations” will be come a self-fulfilling prophecy. Disappointed, perhaps, by the failure of its coverage of a 2006 speech by Donnelly–in which he likened illegal immigration to a “war–to generate more public outrage, the Times has resorted to argument rather than reporting. A recent Field Poll showed that Donnelly enjoys net favorable approval ratings from likely California voters.